Assam: In a surprising decision, the government of Assam has decided to shut down all the state-run madrasas and Sanskrit tols (schools) as it is “not possible for the state government to use public funds” to teach religious scriptures.
“Our government’s policy we had announced earlier in the state Assembly. There should be no religious education with government’s funding,” a report published by a Delhi based news organisation Zee News quoted Education Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma as having said.
“We have nothing to say about privately-run madrasas and Sanskrit tols,” Sarma added.
Quoting Sarma, the report said that a formal notification in this regard will be issued by the state government in November. He said that after the closing down of the madrasas, 48 contractual teachers would be shifted to schools under the Education Department.
Meanwhile, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal has slammed the state government’s decision, saying that if the state government decides to close down government-run madrasas, his party would take steps to re-open these educational educations after coming to power in 2021 Assembly poll.
“Madrasas cannot be closed. We would reopen these 50-60-year-old madrassas if this BJP government closes them forcibly,” Ajmal, who is also an MP, was quoted saying in a report.
Notably, Assam has 614 government-aided recognised madrasas – 57 for girls, three for boys, and 554 co-educational. A total of 17 madarasas teach students in Urdu medium. There are around 1,000 Sanskrit tols across Assam, of which around 100 are government-aided.
According to the 2011 census, the population of Assam is roughly 31,169,272 out of which there were 10,679,345 Muslims in the Indian state of Assam, forming over 34.22% of its population.
Free Press Kashmir is now on Telegram. Click here to Join.
FPK Android App for 2G. Click here to Download.
